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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/27164738">Hymns</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/fakehaunting/pseuds/fakehaunting'>fakehaunting</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>The Haunting of Bly Manor (TV)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Alternate Universe, Ambiguous/Open Ending, Body Horror, F/F, Fluff and Angst, Horror, Minor Violence, Nightmares, Plants, Soulmates, True Love</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-10-23</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-10-23</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-07 00:35:36</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Mature</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Major Character Death</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>3,163</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/27164738</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/fakehaunting/pseuds/fakehaunting</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>“My name is Dani,” she tells Jamie. Her voice is rough from clear disuse but it’s comforting, like a record with scratches playing. “You came for me.”</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Dani Clayton/Jamie</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>49</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>Hymns</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>The garden is louder than usual today; it’s the first thing she hears when she wakes up, in fact it’s the reason she’s awake at all. She slips out of the comfort of her bed, carefully avoiding having her ankles make contact with the empty crevice underneath it, and heads into the kitchen. She grabs a large watering can and fills it up, dipping her finger into it until it turns from the murky green into something slightly cleaner. Heading outside is a bit difficult this morning because of the frost from last night, but she does so quickly. Appeasing the garden is the most important thing right now. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>The ivy snaking up the side of the house shakes with the wind as if waving in greeting so she nods back as she heads over to where the sweet woodruff and bugs bane are calling. She’s quick but careful watering them so they don’t drown or brown and they thank her in return; it’s been too cold these days for them to fend for themselves as they usually can so the water is more than welcome. The monkey flowers and day lilies are quieter but still thirsty so she cares for them next, checking that they’re unbroken. She also checks on all of the scattered grasses and flowers to make sure they’re all in the right places and aren’t at risk of dying anytime soon. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>There’s still something calling once she’s finished checking on everyone, much to her confusion. Instead of messing about she decides to follow the sound. It leads her to the hill that hides her home from the view of the road and gets stronger when Jamie reaches the worn down grass at the base. It isn’t often that she leaves the safe circle of the garden and heads toward the darker areas, but she can’t stand the itching the calling is causing. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Itch.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Itch.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Itch.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>She’s used to the calling of her garden and the animals that gather around from time to time, but this is different. Nothing has ever caused her discomfort like this before, so she must find the source. She drops to her knees and instinctively starts to dig with her bare hands. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>The dirt beneath the grass is warm like flesh and malleable despite the recent cold; it hums with life. She digs as fast as she can with no care for the safety of her fingers and soon there’s a deep hole formed. She can hear a gentle song being sung and it spurs her on, her digging turning frantic in response. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>What she unearths is both shocking and somehow not; it’s a dirt covered woman lying calmly in the ground. She continues singing until her face is fully uncovered then looks up at Jamie, her eyes clear and white. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“It’s you,” the woman says, voice full of fondness. Jamie can only smile in return. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>-</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>The language she first speaks is low and lilting, so smooth it wraps around Jamie like a warm embrace. Jamie doesn’t understand it but she listens raptly, unable to tear her eyes away from her for a second. It takes her a minute to realize that she’s not being understood, so she switches to raspy English. The sudden change makes Jamie shiver for reasons unknown. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“My name is Dani,” she tells Jamie. Her voice is rough from clear disuse but it’s comforting, like a record with scratches playing. “You came for me.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“You were singing,” Jamie replies. “It was beautiful.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Dani smiles proudly. “It was for you.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Really?” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Of course. I called for my lover and you came,” she says. “Only my true love could hear my song.” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>It’s very strange, to suddenly find your true love, but it feels good. Jamie feels warm from the inside out and knows it to be real; Dani truly is the one for her. The sudden desire to reach out and touch her to make sure she’s real presents itself but Jamie resists- she knows better than to touch without asking. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Were you waiting long?” she asks instead. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Dani shakes her head. “Just long enough.” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Jamie makes some tea and toast for them while Dani goes to wash up. When Dani comes out she’s dressed in some of Jamie’s clothes which makes Jamie feel even warmer and happy. There’s something so calming about seeing the one you love in your clothes; what’s yours is theirs and they are yours, too. Dani walks over to Jamie and takes her hand, kissing her palm softly. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Hello, lover,” Dani says. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Jamie’s entire body hums with pleasure. “Hello,” she replies, her voice but a wisp. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Dani smiles so brightly it nearly hurts to look at, revealing rows of jagged teeth. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>They sit down across from each other at the kitchen table and are unable to look away from each other for very long. They peer at each other over their tea cups and Dani feeds Jamie her toast by hand, then Jamie returns the favour. Dani ends up pressing her face against Jamie’s palm and humming faintly; the sensation makes Jamie’s skin tingle and cool. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Oh,” Jamie gasps. “That’s…”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Dani looks more than pleased with herself. “Do you like it, lover?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I do, very much.” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“You’re beautiful,” Dani says. “I cannot wait to learn and sing to every inch of you.” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Are you my betrothed now?” Jamie asks. As a child Jamie was taught to only share herself with her betrothed because her heart was vital and precious, something that could be hurt easier than the rest of her body. She feared the fabled hurt that could be caused so she refused to open up to anyone other than the one. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Dani nods, “Of course! You are my One, my true love. I will never want for another and I devote myself to you.” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Jamie’s heart beats wildly in her chest. She’s never known a feeling like this before and she knows that it will never go away. Dani has brought her so much happiness in such a short time; there’s no question that they are meant to be together. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Beloved,” Jamie says. “Come away with me.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Dani flushes slightly. “I would like nothing more.” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>They end up lying in bed together, simply staring at each other. Jamie takes in Dani in her full form then; she’s tall and rail thin, her ribcage incredibly visible, her skin is smooth and grey, her eyes are a brilliant white with no iris or pupil, and her hair is long and blonde. She’s the most beautiful creature Jamie has ever seen and she wants nothing short of forever with her. Jamie draws Dani in with a kiss as sweet as honey and she sighs against her lips, making them tingle. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Dani holds magic in her voice and it flows into Jamie in waves. To experience her magic so strongly is intoxicating and makes Jamie moan, wanting more. She could easily become addicted to such a thing and it shows in the way her hold tightens on Dani. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Lover,” Dani pants. “Let me go for a moment.” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Jamie whines in protest, “I don’t want to.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“It’ll be worth it, I swear.” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>It takes her a minute to bring herself to let her go. When she does, there are impressions of her fingers on Dani’s arms and goosebumps all over her despite her warmth. Dani smiles as softly as she can at Jamie and opens her mouth, singing gently but with a strength like nothing Jamie’s ever heard before.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Dani,” Jamie gasps and her body opens up, singing back.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>-</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>With Dani sleeping beside her, the gouging beneath her bed seems distant. Jamie finds herself being a little less careful about falling asleep, which proves to be a mistake as per usual. Nightmares cling to her like a second skin and she simply can’t outrun them. It’s always the same thing; running away from the darkness that’s rapidly closing in around her. The darkness is sludgy like the water that comes from her tap but worse. It flows into her lungs and chokes her from the inside out, making her trip and stumble her away down the imaginary streets of her mind. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>She claws at her throat and tries desperately to create an airway for herself but can’t. Water continues to fill her up, so much so that it spills out of her mouth and drenches her. This time, though, the blackness spilling out of every orifice of her body isn’t the scariest part. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>It’s the sound of someone wailing. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>-</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Jamie has claw marks from her own nails on her throat in the morning. It isn’t the first time she’s woken up with physical reminders of her nightmares but it is the first time she’s woken up with sludge beneath her fingernails. She jumps up out of bed and runs to the bathroom, turning on the water frantically and scrubbing her nails. The sludge won’t budge from her nail beds and it makes her start to panic. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Lover,” Dani says from behind her, making her jump. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Dani!”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Let me help you,” Dani says and takes her hands gently. Her grip is firm but careful and the hair on the back of Jamie’s neck stands on end. She puts Jamie’s hands back under the water and starts scrubbing, softer than Jamie did, and gets the majority of it out. Jamie watches it slide down the drain like a slug and shudders. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Thank you,” she whispers when Dani has finished and turned off the tap. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Dani kisses all of Jamie’s fingers and smiles at her. “I live for you,” she replies. “Allowing me to help… it satisfies me.” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I love you,” Jamie all but cries, unused to this feeling. When was the last time someone cared for her like this? </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Dani beams at her. “And I you, lover.” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>-</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Spending time in the garden is something that Jamie loves most of all. It calms her down constantly and makes her happy, so she spends as much time in it as she can. The garden was passed down to her through generations of women in her family; the call of their blood brings the flowers. That is why she is so careful around them; they are living things and they are connected to her through something deep. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>When Jamie tends to the garden, Dani returns to her spot beneath the hill and lies there for a while. She doesn’t come near the flowers anymore, not since the first time. The first time she entered the garden all of the flowers shied away from her and started wilting in fear. Dani looked heartbroken and ran away to the comfort of the hill, refusing to leave until the flowers had returned to normal. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Dani’s singing again today and it makes Jamie smile as she tends to the flowers. When Dani sings, the flowers and vines sway towards her. Her voice is powerful enough to make them ignore their fear and crave her just as Jamie does. It’s a beautiful thing to see and even more beautiful to hear, hauntingly beautiful just like Dani is herself. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Today is an odd day; there’s a hush over the garden and the surrounding area. Dani is not singing and she isn’t lying in her spot, she’s somewhere in the darkened house. Jamie woke up with sludge on the corner of her mouth and bruises on her neck that looked mysteriously like Dani’s handprints. Dani noticed and receded into herself, shutting Jamie out and locking herself away as soon as Jamie agreed to leave her by herself. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Jamie should be afraid of what’s going on, she truly should, but she can’t bring herself to be. She trusts Dani with everything she is and refuses to back away from her. It takes so much of her not to run back into the house and comfort Dani as best she can, but she knows better than that. The last thing she wants is to be inconsiderate of her feelings like that, no matter what happens she would never do that. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Once the gardening is done, Jamie goes back into their house and slowly washes off the dirt from her hands. She does her best not to look at her fingers and scrubs hard enough to remove any trace of the dirt; whenever she looks at her hands she thinks of the sludge. If she doesn’t look, if she ignores what’s going on, it will go away. If she pretends that Dani is okay, she will be. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>-</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Sludge.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Every single day she wakes up with sludge somewhere on her body, mainly coming from her mouth or underneath her fingernails, and it’s making her fear sleep. The nightmares are getting worse and she’s started to fear sleep. Dani doesn’t touch her anymore because she worries that she’ll hurt her again. Between the lack of sleep and the lack of affection, Jamie wilts.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Dark circles have appeared beneath her eyes, smudges as dark as the sludge itself. She’s becoming so gaunt that she doesn’t recognize herself in the mirror. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Dani, though, Dani looks different than she did before. Her teeth are no longer razor sharp and she’s no longer rail thin, she looks healthy and glowing. She’s changing before Jamie’s eyes and it’s frightening to say the least. Dani has also taken to sleeping under the bed; the ever present scratching has stopped, but it doesn’t bring her any comfort. Why must her lover abandon her like this? </span>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>You’re supposed to love me! All you do is ignore me, am I nothing to you? </span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <span>There’s no more singing in the house, only wailing in Jamie’s nightmares.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>It’s starting to sound like Dani. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>-</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Jamie!” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Jamie!” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Her name slices through the fog of her dream and wakes her up, startling her back into motion. Through her sludge covered eyes she sees the carnage she has caused and nearly faints at the sight. There are claw marks coming from beneath the bed where Dani sleeps and blood staining the hardwood floor. Dani is cowering beneath Jamie, her eyes wide with fear and blood streaming from her mouth. Jamie’s hands are around her throat and gripping tightly, tight enough to make Dani gurgle when she accidentally flexes her fingers. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Jamie makes a horrified noise and scrambles off of her, getting as far away from Dani as she can. Dani is looking at her like she’s a monster to be feared and it breaks her heart but she understands; that’s what she is now. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“It’s okay, lover,” Dani says, her breathing ragged. “It’s okay.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I could’ve killed you,” Jamie sobs. Sludge slides down her face in place of tears and she can’t bring herself to wipe it off in fear of seeing the blood. “I almost killed you, Dani.” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“You could never kill me,” Dani replies. “You could never.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“How many times have I done this?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Dani sighs and wipes the blood away from her mouth. “This month has been particularly bad, lover.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“You’re afraid of me now. You won’t touch me, you don’t sing anymore…”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>She crawls over to Jamie and holds her face in her shaking hands. “I’m not afraid of you, beloved. I am afraid for you; I have tasted your suffering and all I want is to make you feel better.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Tasted?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Dani smiles sadly at her. “I am the Darkness, beloved. The thing that has plagued you all of your life, the sludge that you’ve become, it was me.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Jamie doesn’t know how to respond so she sits there and lets it wash over her. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Only my One can sustain me, everyone else I destroy. You are the only one who has been able to stand the pain and the transition.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“What transition?” she asks, fear just starting to leak into her voice. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“The transition into darkness, lover. I have taken your body and made it my own; you will have mine and I will have yours.” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>It all made sense; her rapid decaying and Dani’s change in appearance. She’s been taking parts of Jamie all along, nourishing herself on what she’s found. She knows she should be angry or scared but somehow she isn’t; she’s happy. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“You said you lived for me, before. You live through me now,” Jamie says softly. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Dani nods, “You’ve given me your love and I am complete now, but you are not. You are succumbing to the Darkness,” she says and takes a deep breath. “I am not ready to lose you.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“If I have to die so that you can live, then so be it.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“No!” Dani shouts. “I thought that… I thought you would survive it. You’re so strong and you have the earth in your blood but I still devoured.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“S’okay,” she murmurs. Suddenly she’s so very tired and wants nothing more than to curl up in Dani’s embrace. “I love you, my One.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“NO,” Dani says again. “You will live, we will find a way.” She gets herself upright then grabs Jamie, carrying her downstairs and out into the garden. The flowers sway away from them yet Dani pays them no mind. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Dani,” she tries to say but fails. Dani gets them to the hill and gently places Jamie into the hole that she has kept warm for her. The dirt is soft and comforting, all consuming. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“You will live, lover. I will not let myself do this to you,” Dani says and starts to dig right beside where Jamie lies in the ground. She digs and digs and digs until her hands are bleeding, but she connects the holes and lies down beside Jamie. “I love you, Jamie.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I love you too,” she sighs. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Please forgive me for this,” Dani says and leans over. She tears into Jamie’s throat with her teeth, swallowing her flesh and blood. Jamie screams over and over until she can scream no longer, sludge and blood draining from her too fast to stop. “Sing, Jamie. Sing and it will all be okay.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Jamie gurgles instead. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Jamie?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Jamie?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>The pain fades away and leaves nothing but a haze as she slowly starts to let go. Her eyes roll back into her head and she takes her last breath, her chest beneath Dani’s head. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>The last thing she hears is Dani wailing.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>- </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Dani watches Jamie die but doesn’t allow herself time to mourn. She uses her hands to cover Jamie with dirt as best she can, ignoring the pain that she feels and the tears that sting her eyes. It was all supposed to work; Dani would give Jamie her voice and allow her to heal, but she needed to take Jamie’s voice first. It was supposed to work, yet it didn’t. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“You will be fine,” Dani mumbles to herself. “You will live again, lover.” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>When the dirt covers Jamie enough she runs back inside and gets a watering can. “Love will grow here,” she says. “I will be here when you call for me, Jamie.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>The dirt beneath her fingers darkens with sludge. </span>
</p><p> </p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>thank you for reading!! if you enjoyed please leave me kudos or comments, they mean the entire world to me &lt;3 also there is chance you may have seen a similar version of this on dreamwidth but I assure you that was posted by me as well!!</p><p>Follow me on tumblr @ fakehaunting !!</p></blockquote></div></div>
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